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Friday, 26 June 2015

Scottish Mussel

With Scotland one of the few places where it can be found, the freshwater pearl mussel is one of the most endangered molluscs in the world. It's now also the central theme in a new Scottish romantic comedy Scottish Mussel which received it's world premiere today at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Ritchie and his three pals are unemployed and restless so they try a spot of illegal fishing for pearls up in the beautiful Highlands of Scotland. Along the way Ritchie falls for Beth (Talulah Riley, who also wrote and directed the film), a conservationist passionate about saving Scottish wildlife particularly the freshwater pearl mussel.

So begins a hilarious (and often very silly) comedy. Will the lads give up their illegal activities and become unlikely conservation heroes? Will Beth ditch the irritating, American conservationist Ethan for Ritchie's Scottish charms? Will the criminal overlords get their comeuppance and will the local police finally find themselves with the satisfaction of capturing 'real villains'?

The action is aided by the stunning setting and the addition of an injured otter who is nursed back to health through the course of the film.

Behind all the humour, the film addresses (occasionally slightly heavy handedly) several important issues around wildlife conservation, including pollution, the ever-pressing need for funding and the threat of poaching on populations of endangered animals.

Well worth watching.

(and this is great news for the real life conservation of pearl mussels).

I was wondering if there's an award for best performance by a mollusc. This sounds like one that won't get to us (and do we need another "irritating, American"?), but strange are the ways of distributors.

Bill - one of the few things i didn't like about the film was why the irritating American even needed to be American in this film, particularly as the actor isn't American and his accent was a bit dodgy to say the least. And yes there was a main mussel which should have won an award for best mollusc if there were such an award